TATE 2001
FLEET STRUCTURING
UNI cancels
Q400s as
market dives
EVA Airways subsidiary UNI
Air has cancelled its order for
six firm Bombardier Dash 8
Q400s plus six options as
Taiwanese airlines face over
capacity and a slowing
domestic economy.
The aircraft were originally
scheduled for delivery in early
1999, but UNI Air, which was a
Dash 8 Q400 launch customer,
deferred them.
"We have cancelled the
order, and we have no plans to
buy any new aircraft," says
Cherry Chen, UNI's fleet
planning manager. "The
domestic market is just not
prosperous."
Meanwhile, Taiwan's
biggest and most profitable
domestic carrier, Far Eastern
Air Transport (FAT), has wet-
leased a Boeing 757-200 to
Air Macau, and will consider
terminating the leases on
up to four of its Boeing MD-
80s when the terms expire
over the next two years. FAT
would prefer to lease out
its MD-80s because the 757s
are profitable on regional
routes.
Taiwan's domestic market
has been hurt by rising ticket
prices, overcapacity and a
slowing economy, which has
caused many passengers to
switch to trains and buses.
"We have never seen a market
situation this bad," says FAT.
The slow market was
reflected at last week's TATE
show where Embraer was the
only regional aircraft exhibitor.
Embraer is talking to FAT and
China Airlines subsidiary
Mandarin Airlines.
Mandarin is planning to
replace seven Fokker 50s and
two Fokker 100s, says Ricardo
Pesce, Embraer director of
business development, Asia
Pacific. Mandarin has shown
interest in the ERJ-170.
"We expect to see some
recovery in the Taiwan market
in the next two years," says
Pesce.
PROCUREMENT ANDREW DOYLE / TAIPEI
Taiwan's STOVL need could
extend Harrier production
A short take-off fighter would allow air superiority even if runways were destroyed
The Taiwanese air force is develop
ing a potential requirement for a
short take-off/vertical landing
(STOVL) fighter which could allow
Boeing to extend AV-8B Harrier
production beyond 2004.
Taiwan may consider acquiring
60-100 Harrier II Plus fighters from
2005 if it decides to pursue a
requirement for a STOVL fighter
capable of achieving air superiority
without the need for runways,
Boeing officials said at last week's
Taipei Aerospace Technology
Exhibition (TATE).
US Marine Corps AV-8Bs are
being equipped with new fuselages
under a remanufacturing pro
gramme due to be completed in
2004. The composite wings -
designed to last 20,000h - are
retained.
If Taiwan buys Harriers, one
option would be to continue pro
ducing the fuselages beyond 2004
and transfer production tooling for
the wing to Taiwan's Aerospace
Industrial Development Corpor
ation, says Boeing AV-8 business
development manager Jeff
Maxwell.
Studies by the Taiwanese mili
tary have not progressed beyond
the "analysis of alternatives" stage,
he says, although "I think they are
serious about STOVL".
The US Government supplied
Taiwan with AV-8B performance
data earlier this year, and the mili
tary has been given an "informa
tional briefing" by Boeing. A team
of Taiwanese officials was also
given access to an AV-8B in the
USA as part of a USMC briefing.
In an attempt to reduce costs,
Boeing is considering offering Tai
wan a version of the AV-8B
equipped with an avionics suite
based around the Lockheed Martin
F-16's Northrop Grumman APG-66
radar rather than the existing
Raytheon APG-65, which is also
used in US Navy Boeing F/A-18A/B
Hornets. Taiwan has a large fleet of
F-16s but the country is not an F/A-
18 customer.
The Joint Strike Fighter, a variant
of which will be capable of STOVL
operations, is unlikely to be consid
ered for export to Taiwan before
2020.
• The first two of nine Boeing CH-
47SD Chinook transport heli
copters ordered by Taiwan are due
to be delivered in November and
will be used for training. Boeing
anticipates follow-on orders for for
ward area re-arming and refuelling
point (FARP) tanker variants of the
CH-47 from Taiwan if the country
gains approval to buy modern
attack helicopters. The US
Government recently turned down
Taiwan's request for Boeing
AH-64D Apache Longbows.
FIGHTER DEVELOPMENT BRENT HANNON / TAIPEI
AIDC seeks $200m for new indigenous fighter
Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Dev
elopment Corporation (AIDC) is
looking for $200 million to
develop a new version of the
Ching-Kuo Indigenous Defence
Fighter (IDF), which will be a safe
guard if Chinese pressure on
Europe and the US to stop weapons
sales to the country succeed.
The IDF C/D programme has an
initial $30 million budget for sys
tems design, which has been com
pleted. AIDC has applied for
another $200 million over seven
years to complete development
and flight testing of two new air
frames as well as the modification
and flight testing of two existing
A/B airframes.
The new build IDFs will include
extra fuel volume to increase range
by 20-30%. The tests will deter
mine which version of the IDF will
go into production.
"We have tried to modify the
existing A/B airframe to enhance An upgraded IDF will have longer range
the range," says Jeff Wu, business
development manager, AIDC
defence system and technology
division. "But the airframe was dif
ficult to modify, so we are building
the new aircraft." The IDF C/D pro
gramme includes a single- and a
two-seater.
The next-generation IDF, either
the modified A/B or the all-new
C/D, will incorporate an advanced
version of the GD-53 radar, which
is a derivative of the Lockheed
Martin APG-67. The existing
Honeywell/AIDC ITEC TFE1042
engine will be retained.
AIDC ceased IDF manufacture in
December 1999 after completing
130 aircraft, 28 of which were two-
seaters. Initially Taiwan planned to
acquire 250 IDFs, but deals for 150
Lockheed Martin F-16s and 60
Dassault Mirage 2000-5s reduced
the need for the indigenous fighter.
26 21-27 AUGUST 2001 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com